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Tube 2033

So I've been playing through Metro: Last Light lately (the sequel to Metro 2033) and, as well as finding them both very inspirational for the Underhive of 40k Hive cities, it also, as a Londoner, made me think about what stations one would use in London for a similar setting. This is also a demonstration of the interesting information one can get using the Freedom of Information Act, as a google search on the depth of London Underground stations quickly turned up a Freedom of Information request someone else made a few years back for exactly that information! Armed with a spreadsheet of the platform depths of every Tube station I could then set about modifying a Tube map to show what the network might look like after a nuclear apocalypse, which you can find below.

I chose a depth of 10m as my cut off for whether a set of platforms would survive the apocalypse. Slightly arbitrary perhaps but it seems like a reasonable cut-off and nicely splits the sub-surface lines that were built by cut-and-cover and would be unlikely to survive, from the deep level tunnel bored lines. In addition to the currently in use stations that would survive I've also marked the 7 disused deep level stations that would survive (North End is actually the deepest on the whole network at 67m as it is under a hill and was never even opened after it was built in 1907), and the disused Jubilee line tunnels/platforms at Charing Cross which extend on almost to Aldwych (the original route plan would have gone via Aldwych, but this was changed). Also in green I've marked the 8 stations that have deep level air-raid shelters dating from the Second World War, these were built to house 8,000 people each (albeit temporarily) and were intended to become new part of new express routes after the war, but this idea was abandoned. Also useful to know is that trains (handcarts, whatever) can change between the Northern and Piccadilly lines through tunnels between Euston and King's Cross. Lines and sections of lines that would not survive I've greyed out and marked the rough cut-off locations with red lines. The resulting remnant network is pretty impressive, 93 currently in use stations, plus the 7 disused ones for a round total of 100 covering most of the 150km of deep level tunnels.

King's Cross and nearby Euston would most likely be the centre of power in this post-apocalyptic world, with Bank and Waterloo as slightly less influential rivals. The cluster of four southerly Northern line stations with deep-level shelters would also be a fairly populous area.